I have owned a couple of 70-200 lenses in my lifetime. I had the old F mount V2 then switched to Canon with the R5 and used the V1 of theirs, the external zoom. Honestly that one was great mainly because it was so compact. Last year i decided to move back to Nikon with the Z8 and Zf and picked up the 70-200 v1. At first i didn't like it because of the size but then took it to a shoot in Virginia City and instantly fell in love. It is optically superior to Canon's in almost every way. It is also built like a tank. Fast forward to now and the newly announced v2 and it looks like another stunner. Worth upgrading? probably not no. Being smaller and lighter a definite bonus but im not sure how much better optically it could be. I mean look at these shots! lol :P What it really means is i should go use what i have more!
I'm basically only getting rid of mine because it's in "repair or replace" territory. The new version gets rid of the design where the lens foot is held in place by micro screws and is lighter. After doing an event where I was wearing the thing for 2+ hours and being sore afterwards I could use some weight saving.
I use a Magpul MS strap and QD that snaps into a RRS Arca lens plate on the foot of the V1 to sling my rig. With the new V2 I'd still have to put a lens plate with a QD so as good as the V2 may be, the V1 is a stellar lens and I'll pass on the upgrade to V2.
At one time, I had both V1 and Sony GM II. The V1 felt clunky and slow. AF was on par with Megadap'd GM II, V2 is very much needed for Nikon to be competitive.
EB-1 wrote:
What's up with the banding, especially in the first image?
EBH
This was likely due to the lighting around me. This was my very first outing with both the Z8 and the 70-200 so didnt realize the lighting was affecting the image until i got home unfortunately. Live and learn i guess haha. I should have had that flicker reduction turned on.
